The word “Maxillofacial” might be considerably foreign to most of us who aren’t in the medical field, but for Dr. Rama, it has long been in his vocabulary. Dr Rama Krsna Rajandram is a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Oral & Maxillofacial or OMF Surgeons specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the mouth, jaws, face and neck. Have a read at this interview as we get to know Dr. Rama better.

Dr Rama, have you always wanted to be a dentist?

Not really (Laughs). I wanted to do medicine but I did dentistry and my specialization in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, which touched on medicine since Oral and Maxillofacial was the surgical bit of dentistry. Plus for Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons, they need to have both medicine and dental if they were going to practice the full scope of the specialty.

So in layman terms, what do you specialize in…

Oral Maxillofacial, head and neck.

So since you’re a dentist, when talking to someone, would their teeth be something you’d look at first?

Yes. Although I don’t have a very good set of teeth myself.

What is the most important piece of advice you’ve received in this industry?

I think it’s important to be updated with the latest technology and techniques, besides providing treatments that are evidence-based. These days you get a lot of people who are not fully qualified claiming that they can do a lot of things. The latest problem that we are seeing is the use of fake braces by people who are not medically-qualified doing it in hotel rooms. In addition, due to the stress in the area of cosmetics, many people are going for botox and if you notice, many Aestheticians who practice on the face and are not fully trained yet. It causes many problems and complications in that sense. Thus, always ensure you are well trained as a doctor, always go for treatment that is evidence-based rather than going for the most popular thing on social media because in this current age and time, there are many issues where social media tends to cloud people’s judgment, especially the public and even the doctors.

What is your take on flossing? Is flossing after every meal advisable? Flossing daily?

I think patients should especially if they have very significant crowding issue. Also depending on the type of meal you take, if your meal is high on sugar and would get stuck in between teeth, then you should floss. But if you don’t have problem with spacing or food getting stuck in between teeth then it doesn’t have to be every meal.

With that, are you saying that ‘more sugar means more tooth decay’?

Yes, definitely. And it’s not good for health as it contributes health conditions like Diabetes.

How do you distress?

I workout, I run. I make sure I go to the gym every day.

If you weren’t a dentist, you’d be..

A doctor? No, actually I was going to be an engineer. I think if I weren’t in Healthcare, Engineering would be my choice. Dentistry actually requires fine skills, some artistry and knowledge as well, so it’s a mix of all three.